Similar to previous titles, Double Dash challenges Mario series player characters to race against each other on 16 Mario-themed tracks.

It attained an aggregated score of 87 out of 100 on Metacritic; reviewers praised the graphics, new gameplay features, character and item rosters, arcade aesthetic and track design, but the audio received mixed reactions.

It is the second best-selling GameCube game of all-time, selling around 7 million copies worldwide, behind Super Smash Bros. Melee.

[3] While racing, the player can accelerate, steer, reverse, brake, drift, switch character positions or use weapons and power-ups with the game controller's analog stick and buttons.

[6][7] Light karts have fairly low top speeds but accelerate quickly and are scarcely affected by off-road terrain.

[7] The player can acquire weapons and power-ups by running into Item Boxes scattered across the tracks and arenas of the game.

[4] The player can send their kart into a drift by pressing one of the shoulder buttons while making a turn, allowing them to take a tight corner while maintaining speed.

[9] Mario Kart: Double Dash features four game modes: Grand Prix, Time Trial, Versus, and Battle.

[12] In April 2003, Nintendo released the first pictures and details of the game, as well as revealing the title to be Mario Kart: Double Dash.

[15] In September, Nintendo held a Gamers' Summit for the press, in which a nearly complete and more sped up version of Double Dash was displayed.

One of the hardest tasks chief director Kiyoshi Mizuki was assigned to do was to attract people who had no prior experience with the series; he decided to make the gameplay as simple as possible.

Gameplay features like the ability to escape the banana were removed; the staff wanted both veteran and novice players to enjoy the game.

"[23] Bryn Williams of GameSpy called Double Dash a "great-looking, great-playing game that most gamers will instantly warm to.

"[22] GameZone's Louis Bedigian felt that none of the racing games he had played for the GameCube were as "spectacular" as Double Dash.

[21] Chris Sell of PALGN proclaimed that the music, while decent, was the game's weakest aspect and lacked the catchiness of previous Mario Kart titles.

[23][26][33] Mirabella and Sell remarked that the game's Dolby Pro Logic II support was useful in gauging when an opponent is approaching the player.

[25] In its first seven weeks of sales, Double Dash sold 1 million units, making it the fastest-selling GameCube game up to that point.

Next Generation ranked it as the 12th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country.

[47][48] During the AIAS' 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Double Dash received a nomination for "Console Racing Game of the Year".